TACP instructor: Trainees should know what to expect

If you are thinking about becoming a Tactical Air Control Party airman, you should know how hard the training is, said legendary TACP instructor Tech. Sgt. Israel Del Toro Jr.

Recently, a rash of service members from other branches of the service and airmen from other career fields have either washed out of or quit TACP training, Del Toro told Air Force Times on Wednesday.

Unlike airmen straight out of basic training, those people “should know what they’re getting into” when they try out to become TACP airmen, said Del Toro, who re-enlisted in 2010 after suffering burns over 80 percent of his body when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

“We only have a limited number of spots for cross-trainees and prior service guys, so when you have guys that show up here and don’t want to be here, it takes a spot from a guy that probably really wanted to be here and who was ready,” Del Toro said.

To provide potential TACPs with a glimpse of what they can expect during training, Del Toro posted video on his Facebook page of TACP trainees doing a workout routine they have nicknamed the “House of Pain.” It involves five rounds of flipping tractor tires, carrying weights, squat to overhead press, sit-ups, a run and other exercises.

“Like our motto says, ‘The Strong Shall Stand, The Weak Will Fall By The Wayside!!’” Del Toro wrote on his Facebook page.

3 Comments

Dear Rodger, exactly. If they suck at ” <Rodger's gym workout" there, they're really gonna fail in FL. It's technically only the House of Pain for people you don't see every morning doing harder routines at your gym.